Traverse steep snow to the a hidden M4 ramp. Pull a couple short, M5+ roofs with bomber gear to glorious moss sticks. Honest! Have your head screwed on tight for this one. Mantel and follow the low angle groove to a dicey snow mushroom you pull around to a belay in an alcove. Now climb up the (harder than it looks!) steep groove to a difficult bulge. Hold your breath, and traverse straight right from the Pecker around the corner to a no hands rest. You get an awesome belay! Chimney up, place some gear, and then chimney back down and around the roof to a fixed #2 Pecker - wild position. Ice Cube brought out his AK for this one. This is THE pitch of the route, a wild one. P6, "The Graduate Exam" pitch (5.10 M6/7, 55ish meters). Now you're in a big cave looking up, thinking to yourself "What the hell is this?" Follow it with some M3 climbing to a snow mushroom mantel. This is the hardest slog pitch by far! Head up and left, and cut left into a gully. Steep and sustained M5+ finds you at a tree after 73 meters or so. This pitch is awesome! Head up the obvious groove above until it turns into a very unique chimney. You get moss sticks for days! Belay at a tree right after the mantel. Beg your partner to let you lead this pitch! Ice climb a dead tree, and head up the mossy corner, the crux being near the top before the tree hugging mantel. Belay at the last tree before the SWEET, M4 corner. Cut left and around the corner to a point where moss heads up the slab. Cut left, and then slog up steep snow until you get to a slab. Tunnel through overhanging, M5+ snow (time consuming), and then cut right to a sweet, smallish roof. Climb up steep M5 terrain for a while until it mellows out. The pitch lengths and grades are very approximate. For me, it was a completion of the long goal of establishing a boltless line on the biggest part of the Bird Brain Buttress, and it barely went without bolts.īelow is what we encountered.
It has an awesome position! This was established ground up without bolts. You top out above BBB and all the other routes on the buttress. This route follows terrain right of Bird Brain Boulevard. This could be the mental testpiece of the dark side. Also, fair warning, this is real deal unsponsored M6, not Bird Brain M6.
Any future ascents can comment there thoughts. Long sustained pitches, serious runouts and a complicated descent make this pretty Grade V in our opinion. It was the biggest day I've had over there. This is the best route I've done on the Dark Side, without a doubt. Pass this exam, and the beers are on me for you and your partner! T 5.9+ 5c 17 VI 17 E1 5a WI4+ M6 Steep Snow X Snow Blind Friend, Walk the Line? (submitted as Attractive Hazard)